Thursday, June 09, 2005

Labour screwing business by proxy

What would you think if a monopoly provider just one day decided to drop its prices by 83%? "To encourage growth" they say.

Whilst you've got that post-coital afterglow on, you'd probably think that was very nice of them. Until you realise that you were being completely screwed by Monopolistic Pigs up till that point in time. Did anything change in the cost of providing the service? Probably not. Clearly they knew that they have had business users bent over the barrel for long enough, and noticed that the Commerce Commission may just have been glancing in their direction.

Opps.

When it comes to gouging Kiwis, it appears that Cullen has nothing on Telecom. An 83% price reduction is a statement about the weak-kneed approach that the Labour Government has taken on Telecom. Helen Clark was in the position to unbundle the local loop from Telecom and allow true competition in the telecommunication market that would have stopped what can only be described as extortion. But the Labour Cabinet didn't - even going against the advice of their Communications Minister to break Telecom open.

Isn't it funny how all these cock-ups keep finding a way back to the Ninth Floor?

This move by Telecom today clearly demonstrates that Labour did not have New Zealand business in mind when it made the decision not to unbundle the local loop, and that Douglas Webb has been caught asleep at the wheel.

"We have estimated the cost of mobile termination to be around 15 cents a minute, in comparison with around 27 cents a minute which is currently being charged. There is an obvious and significant impact on prices charged to users calling mobiles from a landline..."

And who I wonder would have the most to gain from mobile calls from a landline? That would have to be Telecom.

What we have here is a not so subtle attempt of Telecom trying to spin the mobile termination report with announcement of an 83% reduction in JetStream costs. They must use Labours spin doctors.

But wait, we haven't finsihed being screwed yet!

He said New Zealand was one of the most expensive countries in the OECD for mobile phone users and that the comparison was even less favourable as usage levels increase.

Admittedly, Webb has regained some of my faith. Unfortunately he is likely to be hamstrung by the political idiots in power above him.

3 Comments:

Just called Telecom to see if I could get a discount on previous months JetStream service because they have clearly been overcharging me. I mean 83% means the pricing in the first place must have been a mistake! I did find out that it does come with one static IP address per account which is a nice bonus - but its still like coming up with a mouthful of ice-cream in the sewer.